


Magnetic

by ficletsandthelike (schulia_jet)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood, Blood and Gore, Family Feels, Gen, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Keith and Coran have a bonding moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 15:18:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14979929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schulia_jet/pseuds/ficletsandthelike
Summary: Keith hoped to have another bonding moment with Lance, but maybe not in such a dire situation.





	Magnetic

Keith had barely stepped out of his ship when he heard the bloodcurdling screech ripping across the field. Terror shot up his spine, but he didn’t hesitate to sprint towards the source of the noise, using his knife to slice through the grass.

The wails continued, growing louder and louder until Keith skidded to a halt in front of Red. He banged on her muzzle, panic settling in as he heard the cries weakening to whimpers. She opened her mouth and he leaped inside, feet pounding in time with his heartbeat; he swung into the pilot’s bay with bayard in hand.

Chest heaving, he scanned the small quarters.

“Lance?” A quiet sob sounded from behind the chair, and Keith approached slowly, ice spreading through his veins. He looked around, then down, and had to whip his head back towards the entrance to keep from heaving.

The blue paladin lay curled around his leg. His jaw was clenched so tight that veins strained on his forehead, and blood pooled sickeningly. Keith forced himself to crouch and look again, but couldn’t help a small gag rising in his throat at the trembling figure.

His femur was snapped, jagged bone sticking from the flesh as if on grisly display. Silver flashed among the red and white, and with growing horror, Keith realized that Lance must have had a metal plate from breaking the bone before.

“Lance? Lance, can you hear me?” Keith spoke slowly, stomach roiling dangerously as the full scene bore itself into his memory. Lance looked up at him, and the look of pure agony was enough to quell Keith’s own problems for the time being.

“I just stood up and-“ Lance sucked in a breath, hands hovering over his leg. “Quiznack-“ Keith reached with shaking hands to Red’s dashboard, bringing up a video call with Coran.

“Coran here! Something… hello?”

“I’m down here, Coran,” Keith said, surprised at the calmness of his voice.  
“We need help, now. As in, getting a pod ready because Lance just almost killed himself now.” A gasp sounded from the screen. “On it! Can you pilot back to the castle?” Coran asked.

Keith heard the low rumble of Red coming to life, and without warning, they shot into the sky. Lance let out a strangled cry as his leg was jostled, and Keith bit the inside of his lip. “Looks like transportation’s covered.”

The paladin could tell that Red was flying as smoothly as possible, but it wasn’t enough to keep the cabin still. Keith glanced back at Lance’s whine of pain, worry spiking at the glazed look in his eyes. His head rested against the bottom of the dashboard, lolling slightly.

“Hey, buddy, stay with me,” Keith said. “Lance, you have to stay awake. Are you listening to me?”

Lance’s aimless gaze drifted to Keith. “I can’t… hurts real bad, gonna sleep…” His eyelids drooped shut, and Keith’s heart shot into his throat. “Hey, no, no, you can’t pass out! Lance- LANCE!”

A blast shook the cabin, and Keith skidded into the wall. Lance’s armor clacked against the floor, and the ominous purple glow illuminating the cockpit was a thankful distraction from the sound that followed. Standing up shakily, Keith made his way over to the pilot’s seat. He lowered himself down and held the levers with a white-knuckled grip.

“One more time, Red. For Lance.”

The lion roared and zoomed forward, even faster than usual; Keith expertly maneuvered around the Galran fleet and booked it for the Castle, sweat dripping down his forehead. Red's landing gear activated, and he breathed tightly with every shift and resulting groan from the floor.

Red’s mouth opened with a hiss. Keith grit his teeth and scooped Lance up, ignoring the blood splattering across his suit as he pounded down the metal corridor.

Coran had to pry the cryopod suit out of Keith’s hands, expertly maneuvering it onto Lance with only a strained cry in response. “Go inform the others of his condition,” the older gentleman said, activating the pod.

Keith knew it wasn’t fair to the Altean, but he couldn’t help the anger that flashed for a moment. “What?! No. I’m staying here,” Keith spat. Coran looked at him with an expression of pity, and the fury crawled up his throat, fire that threatened to blaze through his better judgement- while he slid Lance into the cryopod calmly, as if my teammate wasn’t dying and I should just go-. “Keith.”

He stopped, realizing that he had been speaking aloud. He grit his teeth, forcing himself to meet the Altean’s gaze. It wasn’t pity, but understanding that etched itself into the corners of Coran’s mouth, which twitched upwards in a small smile. 

“He lost a lot of blood. He might not be out for a few days.” For an instant, something flashed across Coran’s face, and he looked older, more tired; Keith saw the distant memory of loss reflected as he had so many times before, but this time, there was another feeling there, swimming in the cracks between hurt. 

Keith opened his mouth, but Coran had already turned back to the pod screen, adjusting sliders. “Sitting here and working yourself into a positive panic won’t help a thing, so why don’t you pop over to the hanger and let the team know you’re both going to be alright?” The paladin hesitated, then nodded, making his way out of the control room. The team was probably worried sick. He stopped for a moment, then leaned back through the control room door. 

“Thank you, Coran,” he called. The only response was a small sniff, and while Keith wasn’t great at the whole emotions thing, something told him that leaving wasn’t right, for a different reason than the pale figure frozen in stasis. “But… the team will be coming anyways, so I should stay. If you, um, want the company.” 

Footsteps sounded behind Keith, and he nearly jumped when he found himself in a bone-crushing group hug, surrounded by a cacophony of voices. “I’m okay, and Lance will be too,” he said, managing to untangle himself from the mess of limbs. He glanced over to Coran, who was watching the whole scene with a twitching mustache. His crow’s feet crinkled as he smiled, still harboring some of the wistful mourning, but Keith could see him covering it with fondness. Keith felt his own heart swelling a bit as the team fussed over him or drifted to watch Lance. 

The feeling of family.


End file.
